Something to see

That there’s a wave of creative talent sweeping through the Irish music scene we are already aware, but it’s a trend that has developed despite – rather than because of – the mainstream industry. While the select few have made it through into the light, there’s a whole mass of artists working underground away from the glare of recognition. Hard Working Class Heroes at the Project Arts Centre this bank holiday aims to change all that, bringing together established names such as Turn, The Walls and Woodstar with a whole host of breaking acts from the world of music, clubbing and audio visual work. In all, over 50 artists will be appearing over the two days.

“We had a wish list of people that we wanted to get involved”, explains organiser Brian. “We wanted to get the leading voices on the Irish stage as well as the up and coming names, we wanted to check people out and see what they were up to.

He sees it as a valuable round up of the state of the musical nation. “It’s a snapshot of the best of what’s up and coming in bands, visuals and DJs around the country. We wanted it to be radically different from the standard rock gig or club night…

Maybe the average Whelan’s punter will be exposed to the likes of an mc or a hip hop artist,” he adds. “It’s going to be a non-segregated night designed to break down a few musical barriers and cultivate the new talent that’s there. We also want to use alternative venues that you wouldn’t associate with gigs”.

Indeed the Project has a history of this sort of thing, most notably the Dark Space event in the late ’70s that featured U2 and The Virgin Prunes, amongst others. This 21st century version looks set to capture the imagination of many, not least the bands and DJs themselves.

“It looks great”, enthuses Steve Wall. “I’ve heard about Berkeley, Fairuza and 8Ball. I’ve never seen NPB. There’s loads of bands that I’m looking forward to seeing because it’s great to hear new acts and see what’s coming up. When I saw the line up I realised that this was a good thing to be part of”.

Robbie from The Things agrees. “It will be really good to play in front of the other bands’ crowds, maybe win over a few new people. It’s giving other bands a chance of a really big step up, with the likes of The Walls and the crowd they have.”

“I’ve been looking forward to it quite a while”, says Arveene, part of the Nylon collective, who are hosting the second club night. “It’s a unique idea in today’s climate in Dublin. Everything is money based and a lot of the good stuff that is happening just doesn’t have the backing. Independent promoters come along and do a couple of gigs and just lose their arse.
“There’s quite a lot of people who are doing really interesting stuff. Something like this is good for the whole scene because it brings a lot of people together and brings a lot of stuff together under one roof for people to see what is going on”.

Another important aspect of Hard Working Class Heroes is that it’s not just a Dublin thing, as Fin from Woodstar agrees.

“Absolutely. I think it’s wonderful that people are trying to do stuff from outside Dublin but it’s good that the bands in the capital seem to be embracing the fact that bands from the country are doing their stuff and coming up there. Berkeley are a band I have upmost respect for. It’s turning into a national scene with people like Gemma, The Frames and Damien Rice… I think we’re bordering something special coming out of the country”.

Perhaps the greatest judgement on the event will come with what happens next. Will this just be a fun couple of days or is it really the start of something else? Arveene hopes it’s the latter.

“I think they’ll be a lot of spin offs from it, with people collaborating or taking different influences from other artists,” he says. “Even the fact that there’s the hip hop community, the electro dance community and these guitar bands coming together might spark some different things.”

“It’s got to start somewhere”, says Fin, “and hopefully people will start doing things for themselves again, because music has to be ripped away from the majors if at all possible… they’ve been making an absolute bollocks of it for the last while – and people going independently and shaking the tree a bit has got to be a good thing”.